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Faculty in the News

Katherine Hunt Federle Media Hits

The following is a list of selected media coverage for Katherine Hunt Federle. The links below will direct you to sites that are not affiliated with the Moritz College of Law. They are subject to change, and some may expire or require registration as time passes.

Professor Katherine Federle was interviewed by San Francisco talk radio show host Gil Gross about the Cleveland kidnapping case. She discussed the validity of possible homocide charges being brought upon Ariel Castro. Castro has been charged with kidnapping and holding captive three women for about a decade. Prosecutors have announced that they plan to bring murder charges upon him for the death of the unborn fetuses of at least one of the abducted women.

Professor Katherine Hunt Federle was quoted in a TIME Magazine article about the possibiliy of the Cleveland kidnapper being charged with homicide for the death of unborn fetuses carried by the victims.

Proving such a case, according Federle, a criminal law professor at Ohio State University, typically requires expert medical testimony based on physical examinations of the woman who miscarried and the fetus itself. Prosecutors would have to first prove that the pregnancies occurred and then that Castro’s action caused them to end in miscarriage.

“There is generally a rule that you have to have some evidence that a homicide was committed, so the mere testimony of the women may not be sufficient,” says Federle. “If you think about people who have been kidnapped or placed under stress, depending on what’s happened to them, their psychological states may be poor. Repeated interviews might enable a defense lawyer down the road to suggest that these women may not have actually recalled this information, that it was suggested to them. Everybody wants to be careful about this because their key witnesses are these three women.”

Professor Katherine Federle was quoted in The Guardian about the ability for prosecutors to prove whether Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro caused multiple miscarriages in his victims who he held hostage for nearly a decade.

She said the case will depend on the evidence available.

"We don't know what evidence the FBI and police have managed to assemble, so it's difficult to assess the case they will bring. But it could be quite a challenge for them to prove that the defendant was the cause of the terminations," Federle said.

Professor Katherine Federle, director of Ohio State University's Justice for Children Project, was quoted by The Cincinnati Enquirer for an article about a custody battle involving an overseas move to Saudi Arabia. "This sounds like a relatively typical custody battle that involves relocation," she said. "It's just a long way away."

Professor Katherine Federle was quoted in a Cincinnati Enquirer story about a child custody hearing that will determine if four children stay in Cincinnati with their mother or go to Saudi Arabia with their father. The story states: “The judge will have to take those factors into consideration when she makes her decision about the couple's two boys and two girls, said Katherine Federle, director of Ohio State University's Justice for Children Project. She said the case is, technically, no different than any other relocation case involving divorced parents, although this one is ‘writ large’ because it involves a potential move to Saudi Arabia. ‘This sounds like a relatively typical custody battle that involves relocation,’ she said. ‘It's just a long way away.’”

Professor Katherine Hunt Federle was quoted in an article on Foxnews.com in regards to the Ohio Muslim teen that fled home after converting to Christianity. The story states: “ ‘She'll be returned to the original jurisdiction,’ said Katherine Hunt Federle, professor of law and director of the Justice for Children Project at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. ‘She probably doesn't have a lot of options other than to return home.’ ”

Professor Katherine Hunt Federle was quoted in a Cincinnati Enquirer story about possible penalties associated with students sending nude photos of themselves via cell phone. The story says: Ohio’s policy toward sexting is not unique, but it is still contrary to neuroscience research, said Katherine Hunt Federle, an Ohio State University law professor and director of the Justice for Children Project. … ‘Juveniles who commit sexual offenses do not manifest sexual disorders in the same way that adults do, and even those who might engage in what we could characterize as sexual deviance do not necessarily manifest persistent and entrenched deviance over time,” she said. This makes it difficult to diagnose any child as a sex offender.’”

Professor Katherine Hunt Federle was quoted in a Columbus Dispatch story about how a man, who continues to be charged in connection to his urine fetish, remains free. “’There is no way a legislature can think of all the problems’ that it would need to address in statutes, said Katherine Hunt Federle, director of the Justice for Children Project at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. Federle said she understands the visceral reaction parents have when they learn what Patton has done — they want him off the streets for good. But the American justice system also has a responsibility to punish people humanely, she said.”

Professor Katherine Federle was quoted in a Dayton Daily News story about whether juveniles are being treated too much like adults in Ohio. The story states: “Ohio State University law professor Katherine Federle agrees. Research shows the last part of the brain to develop, typically at age 18 to 25, is the prefrontal cortex, which helps people understand the consequences of their actions, she said. ‘Ten-year-olds don't even come close’ to full development. Also, ‘kids have a higher false-confession rate,’ she said. ‘They try to acquiesce to authority.’”

Professor Katherine Federle is quoted in this Cleveland Plain Dealer article on the parenting examples used by Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler in the case against two parents charged with child-endangering after caging their children. Federle said many lawyers use tactics like Leffler's during trials. "It's a strategy to show that he is a normal person who makes mistakes," she said. But Leffler, Federle said, might have gone too far. "It is unusual," she said. "It sounds as if he is confessing."

Professor Katherine Hunt Federle, the director of the Justice for Children Project, is quoted in this Cleveland Plain Dealer article about the child-welfare system and its capabilities to strip parents of their legal custody rights in certain cases.

In this Cleveland Plain Dealer story, Professor Kate Federle is interviewed on the Ohio Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that under certain circumstances grandparents or other blood relatives can get visitation with a child over a parent's objection. The ruling acknowledges that families are defined in a much broader context than just a nuclear family, said Kate Federle.

In an Associated Press story in the Washington Post, Professor Katherine Hunt Federle, director, Justice for Children Project was quoted about Lionel Tate, charged Tuesday with holding up a pizza delivery man at gunpoint at a friend's apartment. Tate made international headlines in 2001 and touched off a debate over Florida's practice of prosecuting juveniles as adults when he became the youngest person in modern U.S. history to be sentenced to life in prison.

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